Until we organize, we tech workers have nobody to blame for our exploitation but ourselves. We don't have an effective trade union (or professional association if you prefer), and thus cannot even...
Until we organize, we tech workers have nobody to blame for our exploitation but ourselves. We don't have an effective trade union (or professional association if you prefer), and thus cannot even begin to fight back.
The power of that union would be terrifying. Can you imagine the scope of the damage if every system admin, network admin, and developer walked off the job for a day?
The power of that union would be terrifying. Can you imagine the scope of the damage if every system admin, network admin, and developer walked off the job for a day?
Websites that are glorified shopping carts with maybe three dynamic pages are maintained by teams of people around the clock, because the truth is everything is breaking all the time, everywhere, for everyone. Right now someone who works for Facebook is getting tens of thousands of error messages and frantically trying to find the problem before the whole charade collapses. There’s a team at a Google office that hasn’t slept in three days. Somewhere there’s a database programmer surrounded by empty Mountain Dew bottles whose husband thinks she’s dead. And if these people stop, the world burns. Most people don’t even know what sysadmins do, but trust me, if they all took a lunch break at the same time they wouldn’t make it to the deli before you ran out of bullets protecting your canned goods from roving bands of mutants.
J. Robert Oppenheimer's quote from the Bhagavad Gita comes to mind. "Now I am become death, the shatterer of worlds." Then again, so does Atlas Shrugged. We need to stop waiting for John Galt to...
J. Robert Oppenheimer's quote from the Bhagavad Gita comes to mind. "Now I am become death, the shatterer of worlds."
Then again, so does Atlas Shrugged. We need to stop waiting for John Galt to tell us deserve better.
Oh yes, people with technology skills are ripe for exploitation given how few companies would employ them! Not to mention how interchangeable they all are - if a software project isn't working...
Oh yes, people with technology skills are ripe for exploitation given how few companies would employ them! Not to mention how interchangeable they all are - if a software project isn't working well you can just swap the engineer out for a new one. No need to eye their resume, they're basically all the same. That's why we need to UNIONIZE!
If enough people fetishize the intangibles of working for the big 4 or 5 tech companies, those companies are going to try to pay you less because they know you'll take the job. It's economics. Non-competes are BS, but they're in the contract that you sign. Calling that exploitation just seems... adolescent.
I've got news for you: it isn't just what they call GAFAM in Europe (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft). It isn't just Silicon Valley, either. This shit happens at big consulting...
If enough people fetishize the intangibles of working for the big 4 or 5 tech companies, those companies are going to try to pay you less because they know you'll take the job.
I've got news for you: it isn't just what they call GAFAM in Europe (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft). It isn't just Silicon Valley, either. This shit happens at big consulting firms like Accenture. It happens at small shops you've never even heard of because they specialize in shit like desktop applications for municipal tax assessors. It happens at startups. It happens at established businesses. I know because I've spent the last twenty years, my entire adult life, doing this shit for a living.
If a software project isn't going well, they will replace you regardless of the consequences. Chances are they'll replace you with somebody who will work for half your salary, which isn't that great outside high-cost-of-living areas like the Valley, SeaTac, and NYC. But before they replace you, they'll wear down your morale until you're ready to wish your job on some poor schmuck from the other side of the planet who thinks their H1B is a ticket to a better life and has yet to realize the Faustian nature of their employment deal.
The tech industry sucks as a workplace. It sucks for men. It sucks for women. It sucks for white people. It sucks for people who aren't white. It sucks for young people. It sucks for the middle-aged and elderly. It just happens to suck less for young white dudes because they haven't burned out yet, don't yet know enough to be cynical about their employers' motives, and are thus readily taken advantage of.
Pretty bleak :/ I've spent my not-so-long tech career working at small companies, and I've enjoyed it. I've focused on finding companies where the nature of the work was interesting to me, rather...
Pretty bleak :/ I've spent my not-so-long tech career working at small companies, and I've enjoyed it. I've focused on finding companies where the nature of the work was interesting to me, rather than the pay or the job title or the company's name. Maybe the path to enlightenment is finding work you like in situations where you're not a drone at the bottom of a huge ladder?
I should mention, in the interest of full disclosure: I am white, and male. Apologies.
Good for you. I've been in the trade long enough that the work is pretty much the same no matter what. I make rich assholes even richer, and that's what I would be doing whether I was a software...
I've spent my not-so-long tech career working at small companies, and I've enjoyed it.
Good for you.
I've focused on finding companies where the nature of the work was interesting to me, rather than the pay or the job title or the company's name.
I've been in the trade long enough that the work is pretty much the same no matter what. I make rich assholes even richer, and that's what I would be doing whether I was a software developer, a system administrator, human resources flack, or a janitor. It wouldn't matter if I was working for a big company or a small one. I'm a working-class schmuck selling his labor to survive.
So are you. The difference is that you aren't ready to stop lying to yourself about the nature of your work yet.
Maybe the path to enlightenment is finding work you like in situations where you're not a drone at the bottom of a huge ladder?
Actually, the path to enlightenment is /usr/local/bin/e17 -- at least on my machine. Yours might be different depending on your preferred Unix variant.
I should mention, in the interest of full disclosure: I am white, and male.
So am I. As such I have it relatively easy. When the Man fucks us, he uses lube.
Ah fair enough, that is an important distinction and I actually remember that being the case now. I still think unionizing the tech workers is dumb, but I'm definitely happy to concede this was a...
Ah fair enough, that is an important distinction and I actually remember that being the case now.
I still think unionizing the tech workers is dumb, but I'm definitely happy to concede this was a case of genuine malicious behavior.
Today Apple passed a significant milestone. At our closing share price of $207.39, the stock market now values Apple at more than $1 trillion. While we have much to be proud of in this achievement, it’s not the most important measure of our success. Financial returns are simply the result of Apple’s innovation, putting our products and customers first, and always staying true to our values.
It’s you, our team, that makes Apple great and our success is due to your hard work, dedication and passion. I am deeply humbled by what you do, and it’s the privilege of a lifetime to work alongside you. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the late hours and extra trips, all the times you refuse to settle for anything less than excellence in our work together.
Let’s take this moment to thank our customers, our suppliers and business partners, the Apple developer community, our coworkers and all those who came before us at this remarkable company.
Steve founded Apple on the belief that the power of human creativity can solve even the biggest challenges — and that the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. In today’s world, our mission is more important than ever. Our products not only create moments of surprise and delight, they empower people all around the globe to enrich their lives and the lives of others.
Just as Steve always did in moments like this, we should all look forward to Apple’s bright future and the great work we’ll do together.
Until we organize, we tech workers have nobody to blame for our exploitation but ourselves. We don't have an effective trade union (or professional association if you prefer), and thus cannot even begin to fight back.
The power of that union would be terrifying. Can you imagine the scope of the damage if every system admin, network admin, and developer walked off the job for a day?
From "Programming Sucks", one of my favorite articles:
Thanks for that. It made me feel much better about having just sent this message to my teammate:
Edit: uwsgi had died :/
J. Robert Oppenheimer's quote from the Bhagavad Gita comes to mind. "Now I am become death, the shatterer of worlds."
Then again, so does Atlas Shrugged. We need to stop waiting for John Galt to tell us deserve better.
It would be great, tech workers have serious leverage.
Oh yes, people with technology skills are ripe for exploitation given how few companies would employ them! Not to mention how interchangeable they all are - if a software project isn't working well you can just swap the engineer out for a new one. No need to eye their resume, they're basically all the same. That's why we need to UNIONIZE!
If enough people fetishize the intangibles of working for the big 4 or 5 tech companies, those companies are going to try to pay you less because they know you'll take the job. It's economics. Non-competes are BS, but they're in the contract that you sign. Calling that exploitation just seems... adolescent.
I've got news for you: it isn't just what they call GAFAM in Europe (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft). It isn't just Silicon Valley, either. This shit happens at big consulting firms like Accenture. It happens at small shops you've never even heard of because they specialize in shit like desktop applications for municipal tax assessors. It happens at startups. It happens at established businesses. I know because I've spent the last twenty years, my entire adult life, doing this shit for a living.
If a software project isn't going well, they will replace you regardless of the consequences. Chances are they'll replace you with somebody who will work for half your salary, which isn't that great outside high-cost-of-living areas like the Valley, SeaTac, and NYC. But before they replace you, they'll wear down your morale until you're ready to wish your job on some poor schmuck from the other side of the planet who thinks their H1B is a ticket to a better life and has yet to realize the Faustian nature of their employment deal.
The tech industry sucks as a workplace. It sucks for men. It sucks for women. It sucks for white people. It sucks for people who aren't white. It sucks for young people. It sucks for the middle-aged and elderly. It just happens to suck less for young white dudes because they haven't burned out yet, don't yet know enough to be cynical about their employers' motives, and are thus readily taken advantage of.
Pretty bleak :/ I've spent my not-so-long tech career working at small companies, and I've enjoyed it. I've focused on finding companies where the nature of the work was interesting to me, rather than the pay or the job title or the company's name. Maybe the path to enlightenment is finding work you like in situations where you're not a drone at the bottom of a huge ladder?
I should mention, in the interest of full disclosure: I am white, and male. Apologies.
Good for you.
I've been in the trade long enough that the work is pretty much the same no matter what. I make rich assholes even richer, and that's what I would be doing whether I was a software developer, a system administrator, human resources flack, or a janitor. It wouldn't matter if I was working for a big company or a small one. I'm a working-class schmuck selling his labor to survive.
So are you. The difference is that you aren't ready to stop lying to yourself about the nature of your work yet.
Actually, the path to enlightenment is
/usr/local/bin/e17-- at least on my machine. Yours might be different depending on your preferred Unix variant.So am I. As such I have it relatively easy. When the Man fucks us, he uses lube.
Ah fair enough, that is an important distinction and I actually remember that being the case now.
I still think unionizing the tech workers is dumb, but I'm definitely happy to concede this was a case of genuine malicious behavior.
The email:
His statement is almost pure fluff and quite generic. Not much here to digest.